Yinzhen and Qian Shengyan were both amused by Yuanshou, and the family was in a harmonious mood, which only made Hongshi seem more pitiful.

Granny Feng was on the verge of tears.

She no longer felt that Qian Shengyan was being kind by calling them; on the contrary, Granny Feng thought Qian Shengyan was extremely malicious!

She showed kindness to the prince while humiliating Hongshi. This Princess Qian is truly... vicious!

Because she felt sorry for him, Granny Feng spoiled Hongshi even more. She didn't know much, and all she wanted was for the child to be happy, so whenever the teacher the prince hired asked Hongshi to recite or copy texts, but Hongshi was unwilling, Granny Feng would cover for him.

The child is still young, what's wrong with wanting to rest?

Besides, the child is so pitiful, not seeing his father for ten days or half a month at a time, and his mother is far away in the capital. Now he is all alone and helpless. What's wrong with her, as a wet nurse, wanting to love the child more?

With this cover-up, and since Yinzhen (the Yongzheng Emperor) couldn't necessarily come to ask Hongshi about his studies every day, the hired tutor, Yu Wenhai, had no choice but to gradually relax the requirements.

July arrived quickly, and Qian Shengyan and Yuan Shou gradually adapted to the weather and life in Rehe, with their days filled with activities and joy.

Qian Shengyan also learned to ride horses, but she could only walk slowly, and she had to ride a small, immature pony.

Once, she got bold and even rode a horse with Yuan Shou in her arms. Unexpectedly, Yuan Shou wasn't afraid at all and was so happy that he danced around and shouted. When they got back, he repeatedly gestured to his father, saying things like "horse," "big horse," and "happy."

Qian Shengyan then understood that horses were to men in this era what carriages were to men in later generations—a love that lasted from childhood to old age.

Yuan Shou liked it, and Yin Zhen was also happy, so he often took him to the stables to see the horses. Occasionally, when the weather was nice and Yin Zhen was free, he would take his son to brush the horses together.

He also chose a pony for Yuan Shou that was less than a year old, even younger than Yuan Shou, but much taller. Yuan Shou liked the pony very much, named it Xin Hua, and kept asking the eunuch to help him ride it.

That day, Yuan Shou went to check on his horse again, but when he returned, he circled around Qian Shengyan with some displeasure.

Qian Shengyan was instructing people to make clothes for the various masters using the newly arrived fabric, only aware that a little tail was following behind her. She turned around to look, but didn't say much. Only after finishing her work did she pick up Yuanshou.

"What's wrong? Are you unhappy? Didn't you go to see Xiaohua?" Qian Shengyan asked softly.

Yuan Shou pouted, looking a little unhappy, but after a moment he still said, "Yuan Shou, I want to grow up quickly."

"Grow up quickly?" Qian Shengyan pinched his chubby little face. "When Yuanshou grows up, Mother will get old."

"Yuanshou, hurry up, Mother, I'm not old yet!" Yuanshou said anxiously.

Qian Shengyan couldn't help but smile. She leaned down and kissed Yuan Shou's cheek: "Why do you want to grow up?"

"Third Brother, let's ride a horse." Yuan Shou pouted again. "Yuan Shou, no."

"You ran into the Third Prince at the stables?" Qian Shengyan knew that Hongshi should also be taking riding and archery lessons now, and the little fat boy probably envied his brother because he saw how good he was at riding horses.

She kissed Yuan Shou's cheek again and coaxed him softly, "Yuan Shou will grow up someday. You have a long, long future ahead of you. You can do whatever you want to do slowly, there's no need to rush." ​​Seeing that Yuan Shou was still unhappy, Qian Shengyan thought for a moment and said, "Look, isn't your father already big enough?"

Yuan Shou thought about it and realized that even three of them wouldn't be as great as his father, so he nodded.

“But your father can only ride the big horse now, he can’t ride the little flower.” Qian Shengyan said, gently rocking him while holding him. “Yuanshou can ride the little flower, and when you grow up, you can ride… uh, the big flower.”

Her words were naive, but Yuan Shou could understand them perfectly.

The little child nodded thoughtfully: "Yuanshou, being small, can play with small things; but Yuanshou will grow up. Adults, however, will not become small."

"Wow, baby, you're so smart! That's exactly what I meant!" Qian Shengyan exclaimed in delight; her son was amazing!

Yuan Shou nodded with some pride, then clenched his fist: "Yuan Shou, you've always been smart! You'll still be smart when you grow up!"

"Okay, my darling has always been smart." Qian Shengyan kissed his forehead and smiled again.

She was talking slowly with Yuan Shou when she saw Yinzhen walk in slowly with a frown on his face.

He seemed preoccupied with his own thoughts. He came in without saying a word, just sat down with an air of authority, and when Yuan Shou called "Father," he only responded with a single word, barely reacting.

Qian Shengyan guessed that he had something to do, so she put down Yuan Shou and let him go out to play by himself, and instructed the nanny and eunuch to keep an eye on him. She then picked up a bowl of yogurt that was iced next to her and brought it to Yinzhen: "Your Highness, did you just come back from outside? It's still hot in the sun, have some yogurt."

"Hmm." Yinzhen took it and ate it bit by bit with the small spoon.

Qian Shengyan didn't quite understand him. Logically speaking, Prince Yong should have been enjoying great success this year. The Crown Prince was reprimanded, but he took on an important task and did an excellent job, earning several rewards from the Emperor. The Emperor even sent a message from afar saying that he missed him and asked him to come to Rehe to pay his respects.

After he arrived, the Emperor would see him every few days, and he was always happy after seeing Yinzhen.

Given how good things are going for him, what happened?

After spending more than a year together, Yinzhen was now able to talk to Qian Shengyan about some things. Qian Shengyan knew that there were some things that couldn't be said, and it would be pointless for her to ask, so she just waited for him to speak.

After being fed a bowl of yogurt and a few pieces of watermelon, Yinzhen finally waved his hand and stopped eating. He pondered for a moment before slowly saying, "Third Brother..."

He said those words and then fell silent, seemingly hesitating whether to tell Qian Shengyan.

My dear reader, there's more to this chapter! Please click the next page to continue reading—even more exciting content awaits!